Moll Flanders By Daniel Defoe Essays - Films, Picaresque Novels

Moll Flanders By Daniel Defoe Moll Flanders is a story about the fall and rise of a beautiful woman who was born in Newgate Prison. Her mother was saved from the gallows because "she pleaded her belly", and soon after Moll was born, her mother was shipped to the clonies to work out her sentence. Left behind, Moll was raised for three years with a band of traveling gypsies. Moll worked her way out of that, disgusted that England didn't have orphanages, and she was allowed to live with a "nurse." At a young age she decided she didn't want to be a servant, but a gentlewoman. Her defination of a gentlewoman was a woman who worked and supported herself, not, in fact, a wealthy woman. Moll's nurse, and a wealthy matron of the town, found entertainment in this, and Moll was allowed to sew for people to earn her keep. After many years of seamstress work, and handouts from wealthy gentlewomen, Moll was able to buy her own clothes and live quite well with her nurse. After her nurse died, she lived with the wealthy matron and her family. She was their servant, but also treated very kindly. Moll learned what the daughters learned, french, dancing, singing, and how to read and write. Her talents and beauty surpassed theirs, but she would never have the same advantages, as she was poor and of low social standings. The elder brother made Moll his mistress, much to protests at first, but won her over with proclamations of love and promises of marriage once he came into his inheritance. The younger brother, Robin, professed his genuine love of Moll and his plans of marrying her. After weeks of unbalance and uneasiness of this, their marriage was approved; Moll being payed off by the elder brother, and because she wanted stability. Robin died five years later, Moll gave her children to Robins parents, and she went off to start her new life. She sought to marry rich, so that she may be supported, and be a gentlewomam. Deception landed her a tradesmen, or a draper, that spent all her money, his own money, and money he didn't have. Debts accumulated, and he was arrested for debt and put in "a sponging-house" (a place of confinement for debtors). He instructed Moll to take what she could fom his shop and their home to try and pawn for money. His escape left her alone again, and without bothering for a divorce, she started again. In London, she helped a woman get a man, so inturn, asked for aid back. The seaman Moll chose owned a plantation in Virginia, which the two, after marriage, moved to. Moll enjoyed the company of this man, and they got along well. His mother, who lived on the plantation too, befriended Moll. One day, Moll's mother-in-law was telling Moll about her past; about how she had a child in Newgate, but was allowed transportation to the colonies after the child's birth. Moll discovered that this was her long-lost mother, and after a struggle with the decision to say anythig about it or not, she confronted her mother. The thought of sleeping with her husband, now her brother, repulsed her, and seeing their children was even worse. Moll convinced her brother to allow her to go back to London, and he sent her with money and her belongings. The two corresponded ater that, but as sister and brother. Moll returned to London, and took up residence in Bath. There, under the pretense that she was awiting money from Virginia, she met a married man, whose wife "was distempered in her head." Moll cooked and served this gentlman's meals and kept him company, as he helped her out financially. The two became friends through a sickness he had, and one night, after too much wine, the two went to bed together. This evolved into a six year relationship, as Moll had a child with him. He furnished her and the child in an apartment in London, and all was well until he became ill. After this, he broke off ties with her by sending her money for the child. Moll was now forty-two years old. Moll then met her soon to be 4th husband, Jemmy. And, althought their relationship was founded under the pretense that both were wealthy, a true love resulted. When the truth of their poverty did suface, Jemmy tried to leave, but couldn't; he couldn't bear to be away from her. The two did part

Are humans rational essays

Are humans rational essays The human species has well developed cognitive abilities compared to animals. These can be remarkable like language and many other communication systems. Our visual system provides us with excellent vital information for the environment. Besides, through thinking and problem solving, we have adapted the environment to suit us and developed science and technology. Surely, these are evidence of an advanced intelligence humans possess. On the other hand, though, psychological research strongly suggests that humans are irrational. There is a mass of psychological evidence (Kahneman et al., 1982; Baron, 1988; Evans et al., 1993), which show many errors and biases in human reasoning and decision-making. Besides, everyday life provides us with supportive evidence for human irrationality. Smoking and drink driving is just a couple of them. How did humans achieve so much but are being irrational in so many experimental tasks and many aspects of life? Philosophers and psychologists, troubled b y this paradox, suggest that there must either be something wrong with the experimental research as it is or researchers misinterpret the findings. In 1996, Evans and Over proposed another possible solution to the paradox. They argued that there should be a distinction between the uses of the word rationality. They suggested two different uses of the word rationality, rationality1 and rationality2. Rationality1 is used when referring to the rationality on a personal level. In this case, rationality is satisfied when people successfully achieve the basic goals of survival and communication. Animals and humans share rationality1 that includes the use of early cognitive processes such as memory, perception, problem solving, learning and processes of adaptive and effective thinking. Rationality2, on the other hand, is impersonal and depended on actions based on logic or hypothetical thinking. Rationality2 is exclusive to humans. Labo...

Buying Decision - a New House Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Buying Decision - a New House - Essay Example Key words: House, Economy, Domestic Economy, GDP - Gross Domestic Product, BEA - The Bureau of Economic Analysis, purchasing power, inflation, international trade. John & Tia are living in a rented studio apartment at a location near to their offices and commercial area which is ideal for them. However, they are expecting a baby and require bigger space to have room for baby’s nursery and a location that is near to clinic / hospital, school, nurseries, day care centers and other social service offices they might need to consult after they have the baby along with continuation of their respective careers. Both to-be-parents are confused whether to rent a bigger place or make the ultimate investment of buying their own house in an economy that is gradually improving from recession. This is a major investment for the couple that requires a substantial financial expenditure which is going to alter their financial position, spending habits, saving percentage etc. Consequences of th is substantial investment would firstly require savings and other investments evaluation. They have been saving for few years and have sufficient amount to make the down payment and pay mortgage for at least a year. Hence they are prepared financially however, they need to be emotionally willing to take the huge plunge into this big investment as well as cope with resulting restrictions, requirements and tradeoffs involved. They need to assess whether their current income flow is sustainable and can support mortgage payments for the future period. If mother-to-be has to quit job in order to take care of the baby would they be able to afford making payments regularly and how will they manage their financials? They also need to evaluate if it is the right time to take the leap or they should stick to rented option. Their detailed assessment of the economic situation, evaluation based on economic factors and weighing down of options is given below. Majority of the decisions we make as consumers are directly related to or influenced by the prevailing economic conditions. Our future plans are shaped in accordance with our expectation of how the economy will perform. We shall refer to a few of N. Gregory Mankiw’s principles related to the principle of making the purchase decision and influencing factors. According to Mankiw, there is no â€Å"free lunch† we must give up something in order to get something i.e. every decision has its costs / tradeoff. In our case tradeoffs are the plans couple had already made earlier that they now need to forego or put on hold, such as yearly vacation and a new car. They would also have fewer saving hence restricted spending priorities since now they also have to consider extra savings for future expenses related to raising a child as well as maintain the new house if the go ahead with the decision. Further tradeoffs would be loss of interest income being earned on the savings and opportunity cost lost on account of no t having the same amount invested to gain profit. This factor would evolve into the second principle by Mankiw which involves considering and weighing the costs of decisions, i.e. opportunity cost which is ever present. The couple would be losing on the opportunity to have the amount saved and interest being earned giving them financial strength instead of having it spent on down payment, monthly mortgage payment and insurance payments. Other